


in another universe (you and i were meant to be)

by freethedoncastertwo



Category: Fruits Basket, Fruits Basket (Anime 2019), Fruits Basket - Takaya Natsuki (Manga)
Genre: Gen, Past Character Death, alternative universe, friendship focus
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-01
Updated: 2020-09-01
Packaged: 2021-03-07 00:35:40
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,982
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26228035
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/freethedoncastertwo/pseuds/freethedoncastertwo
Summary: After an accident, Yuki is transported to an alternate universe where Akito died young, the curse broke early and Kyo is his lifelong best friend.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 15





	in another universe (you and i were meant to be)

**Author's Note:**

> For ease of reference, sections with Yuki from the canon universe will be labelled Yuki One and sections with Yuki from the alternate universe will be labelled Yuki Two.

**Yuki One**

"Yuki. Yuki. Hey, Yuki."

Someone is patting his face. No thanks. Yuki would rather sleep. He bats the offender's hand away, muttering, "get off."

Whoever has been patting him sighs in relief. "Oh, thank goodness. Yuki!"

Hmm. That's not normal. Maybe Yuki should pay attention to that. Yuki stirs and slowly opens his eyes.

A rude sight greets him. Kyo is there, with his face in a wide grin and his orange hair dangling in Yuki's face. "Wake up! Attaboy. I was worried."

"Pardon?" Yuki pushes himself into a sitting position. He looks around. He's sitting in the middle of a quiet street, and Kyo is the only other person here. They were... fighting. Yeah. That's right. They were fighting, and Yuki had thought it was a play fight (they were a bit beyond the real fights now) until Kyo actually managed to land a blow. It had taken Yuki by surprise.. He had fallen back, and he must have whacked his head on Shigure's mantelpiece...

Ah. Shigure's house. They had been inside Shigure's house when the fight happened. So why are they outside now?

Kyo waves his hand in front of Yuki's face. "Hello? Ya there, buddy?"

Yuki flicks Kyo's hand away in reflex. Kyo frowns. "Hey. Don't be cranky. I was just checking if you could see me. You hit your head pretty hard."

Strange. Kyo is acting... Well, if Yuki didn't know any better, he would have though Kyo was acting like a friend.

Yuki sighs. "Whatever. Why are we outside?"

Kyo raises an eyebrow. "Why wouldn't we be?"

"We were just inside."

Kyo laughs. "Well, sure. But these neat things called doors exist."

Yuki glares. "I know how we got outside, Cat. But _why_ are we outside?"

Kyo shrugs. "Because fresh air is nice? i don't know. It was your idea to go outside and play."

Okay. Something's not right. Yuki would never invite Kyo to 'go outside and play'. He would never say something so childish, especially not in front of _Kyo_ of all people. It occurs to Yuki that there might be some kind of elaborate prank going on.

But Kyo doesn't do _elaborate_ , and he doesn't do _pranks_ either. Knocking Yuki out and then dragging him into the street to disorient him just isn't Kyo's style.

Kyo is peering at him. "Are you sure you're okay, bro? You look really confused."

Yuki laughs a little. "I am confused."

"Okay." Kyo straightens up, immediately switching into caretaker mode. "You must be concussed. Let's go back to Shishou's place to get the car and then I'll drive you to the hospital."

Yuki flaps his hand. "No, no. No hospital." For goodness' sake, he's not confused because of _that_. "I'm fine. I feel fine. I've just... forgotten some things and I need you to fill me in."

Kyo eyes him suspiciously. "Hospital. Now." He reaches down and grabs Yuki's arm, then drags him up like a disobedient child. He scoops up Yuki's backpack and his own in his other hand. They walk down the quiet street and into Kazuma's driveway. Kyo forces Yuki into the passenger seat and then gets into the driver seat himself. He checks that both their seatbelts are fastened. Then he drives.

Apparently, Kyo in this universe or dream or whatever it is can drive. Yuki pushes down a wave of jealousy. 

Yuki stays silent for a while as he tries to figure out his next moves. Kyo's phone is plugged into the car system. The phone rings and Kyo answers. 

"Hey babe!" Kagura's peppy voice chimes out from the car speakers. Yuki smirks, anticipating Kyo's reaction.

But to Yuki's _utter_ shock, Kyo responds with, "Hey, babe! How was your exam?" Yuki looks at him sharply. Kyo has a soft smile on his face - the kind he reserves only for Tohru. 

"I aced it!" Kagura sings proudly.

"I knew you would. You're going to make a great paramedic."

Kyo and Kagura continue chatting affectionately, while internally, Yuki spirals. What the fuck? He doesn't know these people. He literally doesn't know these people. Where is Tohru? Why is Kyo talking to Kagura like a girlfriend - like he should be talking to _Tohru?_

Yuki waits until the phone call ends. Then he casts Kyo a scathing look. "What about you and Tohru?"

 _Please,_ Yuki thinks. _Please don't say you don't know her._

Kyo raises an eyebrow. "What about me and Tohru?"

Yuki heaves a sigh of relief. At least she still exists in this world. As long as she exists here, it's okay. "Aren't you dating Tohru?"

Kyo frowns. "No... I'm dating Kagura. You're dating Tohru. Are you okay?"

Yuki nods dismissively. "It's the concussion or whatever. It'll pass. But aren't you in love with Tohru?"

What?” Kyo laughs and slaps his knee. “No, bro. She’s great, don’t get me wrong. I had a crush on her for a little while when we first met. But now I see her more in a familial way, like a sister, or maybe even a mother.”

Yuki stares at Kyo. Maybe Kyo is making some kind of complicated dig at him, but… but there’s just no way that Kyo could know that about him. Which means that once again the parallels between the two of them are bizarre, even in this strange, seemingly fake, reality.

“This is not normal.”

Kyo recoils from him a little bit, frowning as if Yuki’s just insulted him and he can’t quite believe it. Which is weird, because Yuki considers it a priority to insult Kyo at least once a week. “Huh? It’s not weird!” Kyo protests. “You know my ma died when I was young.”

Okay, so that part is still the same. Yuki holds his hands up in a peace offering. “Sorry, uh, bro. I didn’t mean it like that.”

"It's fine."

"What about Machi? And Kakeru?"

"Huh? Your friends from student council? They're fine, I think. You had a Mogeta marathon with them last weekend."

"Okay. And what about Haru? And Rin?"

Kyo shrugs. "They're fine too. At least, they seemed fine when we saw them a couple of months ago."

Yuki's heart sinks. "Are we... not close to them?"

"Not really? Why?"

"Oh." Yuki pauses. "No reason." The idea of not being close to Haru is a little too much to think about. Yuki swallows around the sudden lump in his throat and pushes it away.

"What about Shigure?" 

Kyo shudders. "That dog guy? He's scary as fuck. I tried to bring him a present one time and he threw a water balloon at me and yelled at me to get off his property." Kyo chuckles. "Apparently he's been like that since that God girl died. Damn, what was she called...? Akano, Akina..."

"Akito," Yuki says hollowly.

"That's the one! Akito. I never really knew her, to be honest. But you lived with her for a while, right?"

Yuki doesn't answer.

Akito is dead. Akito is dead. That’s when it dawns on Yuki that this is not his world – no world of his would ever set him free like that. No universe of his would ever be so kind. Succumbing to a wave of dizziness, Yuki puts his head in his hands.

“Yuki?!” Kyo reaches out and rubs his back. “What’s wrong?”

Yuki shakes his head, The familiar tightness is constricting his airways, spreading pain through his chest and into his throat. He plunges a hand into his pocket – blessedly, he still seems to be wearing his clothes from his own world – and wraps his fingers around his inhaler. He pulls it out and takes four puffs. He waits for them to take effect. Finally, when he can breathe clearly again, he looks up at Kyo.  
Kyo stares at the inhaler, aghast. “You still use that thing? I thought you hadn’t had an attack in years.”

The concern in Kyo’s voice is so genuine that Yuki can’t help but laugh. Kyo is not an actor, Kyo has never been able to be anything other than completely real at all times. Which means that, somehow, this isn’t a joke. “I had an attack last Tuesday,” Yuki huffs out.

Kyo’s eyes are wide. Yuki realises he must have freaked him out by having a sudden asthma attack and then laughing. Yuki waves his hand dismissively. “Sorry. I’m fine. Just... keep telling me stuff. What about Ayame?"

Kyo rolls his eyes. "He's good. Obnoxiously good. I don't know how you manage to be so patient with him."

Yuki nods to himself. Okay, so that's nearly the same, minus the patience part. "And Hatori?"

Kyo smiles. "He's getting married in May."

"To Mayu-sensei?"

"Yeah."

“And what about Momiji?”

Kyo hums. “Momiji... Momiji... Oh, that German kid? No idea. I think he’s in Europe somewhere.” Kyo smiles as if Yuki is being funny. “Why do you ask about him?”

Yuki stares down at his hands. He might cry. Scratch that – he is crying. No Momiji? He was devastated about not being close to Haru in this world, but if Haru's still in Japan, at least he can work with that. It hurts to lose their history, but... he can work with it. But Momiji's in a different continent, and Yuki has no idea how to work with that.

Yuki had never even realised that he was attached to Momiji. It’s not as if they hung out one-on-one. But he just… he was a permanent fixture, you know? A familiar, friendly face in a sea of intimidating strangers. He was also one of the first people to ever care about Yuki to any extent. So, while they’d never had an extremely strong bond, he was comforting to have around.

“Hey, don’t cry,” Kyo exclaims, looking flabbergasted. “I’m sure you can get in touch with him if you want to. Hatori probably has his email address.”

Yuki wipes his face dry. “Yeah. Sorry.” He’s not sure why he’s apologising to Kyo, but this Kyo is much nicer than his own Kyo. So he feels obligated to keep that good thing going.

“How long have we been friends for, anyway?”

Kyo rubs his back. “Ages. We’ve been best friends since that day you came and said hi to me, when we were about seven or something.”

“Oh, god.” Hearing this makes Yuki start sobbing all over again. _That’s_ what they could have had? That’s not fair. Once upon a time, Yuki would have loved that.

Mistaking the cause of Yuki’s distress, Kyo slings an arm around his shoulder. “Hey, don’t worry. You’ll get your memories back soon. And if not, we’ll take you to Hatori. He’ll figure something out.” He taps Yuki’s head. “The memories are always there somewhere.”

Yuki has never before considered that Hatori could possibly restore memories. He nods and takes a few deep breaths to calm himself. There are people here who can help him. He's not a lonely child trapped in the room. He has options.

Yuki clears his throat. "I need to go and see Shigure."

Kyo frowns. "Shigure? Why?"

"I need his help with something."

"What could he possibly help you with?"

"It's a project. For... um... for my university application. He's a writer, right?"

Kyo shrugs. "He used to be, apparently. I doubt that he still does it." Kyo pauses. "One of my friends from the dojo is a writer. You could ask her instead."

Yuki shakes his head. "No. It has to be Shigure."

Shigure is a lot to handle sometimes. Yuki knows this well. But he's also one of the smartest people that Yuki has ever met. And Yuki used to get the impression sometimes that Shigure knew a lot more than he was letting on. Like he knew things about the curse, and about the mysteries of the world. So if anyone can help Yuki figure out a way to get back home, it's Shigure.

**Author's Note:**

> In the next chapter, canon Yuki will meet Haru, Shigure and Momiji from the alternate world, and alternate Yuki will try to find his bearings in the canon world.


End file.
